Shadow Minister for Regional Health, Shadow Minister for Regional Communications - Member for Mallee - Transcript - Sky News - Tuesday 14 April 2026

‍

‍DR ANNE WEBSTER MP

SHADOW MINISTER FOR REGIONAL HEALTH

SHADOW MINISTER FOR REGIONAL COMMUNICATIONS

FEDERAL MEMBER FOR MALLEE

TOPICS: Albury Wodonga health forum, by-election prospects, Australian self-sufficiency, China restricting sulfur exports, agricultural impacts, Australia’s resource abundance, impact of net zero, farmer sentiment

De Giorgio  

And joining me now is Nationals MP Anne Webster, who's been in Farrer over the past few days. Good to catch up with you. Anne, thanks so much for your time. So last night, you hosted the Farrer Community Health Forum alongside the Nationals MP Brad Robertson and leader Matt Canavan, what was the reception like there?

Webster  

Thanks Danica for having me. Yes, I've just come back from Farrer. Drove all that way today, and the health forum itself was well attended by people from all persuasions, and we even had people being represented, I would suggest, by the independent - and I think the there was unanimity in the room regarding the poor health service, and particularly the hospital there at Albury-Wodonga, it has been a hot topic for a number of years. And Brad Robertson, the excellent Nationals candidate there, has been listening to his community and engaged at a local level, hearing what they have to say and what they want. It is a very fraught issue. And Matt and Brad and I and Bridget McKenzie also were there to hear what they had to say.

De Giorgio  

Yeah, and look, I mean, healthcare in the regions is such an important topic, it it's something that I know is front and mind for many out there, so, it is a discussion that needs to be had. And how are you feeling about the by-election? You know, the the polling suggests it's going to be very tight. You've got the Nationals, you've got the Libs, and, of course, now you've got One Nation. You've got Pauline Hanson on the ground, really firing ... on all fronts. How are you feeling, getting closer to this by election?

Webster  

Well, I mean, Brad and Matt have been ...,Matt's been camping out while he's there. He's one tough cookie, is all I can say. And they are talking to the locals and hearing from locals, and they get a very, very warm reception across that really wherever they've gone in Farrer, which is great. So I think the problem with by-elections is you get a very short window and trying to get across and hearing what people have to say, and selling what we stand for and values just comes up over and over again as something that we must get back to, as opposed to silly ideologies like net zero - so glad we walked away. And you know you've already been talking in the program tonight about drilling our own resources and keeping our own resources and producing our own resources. And it's another subject for the farmers in Farrer, of course, in my own electorate, and across regional Australia, where horticulture and broadacre cropping is so important to our economy, and they're really being let down at the moment, and they're under a lot of stress.

De Giorgio  

Yeah, look, it's tough right now, and the supply issues, obviously hitting farmers. And if that wasn't enough, as a fallout from the from the Iran war looming. There's now a looming China export ban that's set to deepen this crisis. China has notified some of its sulfuric acid producers that it will stop exports from May. One large buyer was told about it by its Chinese supplier. That's according to Bloomberg. So now it's not only fertiliser. Anne now we've got sulfuric acid. How are we going to seriously get ourselves out of this crippling dependency on foreign supply?

Webster  

Oh, look, it's such an important question. You know, you talk about migration being a debate that we must have. We must have a genuine debate about our own reserves and making our own urea. Of course, we have got a plant that will be up and running thanks to the Coalition in 2027 - hopefully earlier - and with regard to sulfur and with regard to sulfuric acid, key ingredients for farmers to grow food and to break up rock and to be able to have an abundance in their crops, so they're not having, you know, minimal crops, they're actually flourishing crops. Australia does this so well, and yet now we find in this fuel and fossil resource crisis. Yes, yes, set up by the Iran war, but also set up by net zero, just how dependent we are on products coming into Australia. We have got to get back to manufacturing. We've got to trust ourselves. We've got to get the settings right, and that includes the red tape, the green tape, the investor interest in Australia and ensure that we are doing these things again ourselves. Our farmers deserve it. Our nation deserves it. And we've just got to set the tone here on in  

De Giorgio  

Absolutely as you said, I mean, we can't drill, baby drill. We're sitting on an abundance of resources right now, but this green dream is absolutely killing us. We're almost out of time, but very quickly. And I just want to ask you, how are farmers feeling out there now, we have been speaking to them over the last few weeks, since this fuel crisis began. What's the feeling now?

Webster  

Look, I think there is a great deal of uncertainty. Farmers are really struggling to be sure or assured that they will have the diesel to harvest if they're cropping, if they actually make the decision to plant a crop, they're not. They're worried that they may not have the diesel or afford the diesel to harvest. But now we've got the fertiliser ...urea has doubled in price. We don't know what's now going to happen with regard to sulfur and sulfuric acid, of course, other components, and it's just really hard for them. And let's not forget the water buybacks under Labor. That is certainly a top issue in Farrah as well.  

De Giorgio  

Yeah, I can imagine it will be.  Well, look, it's going to be an interesting by-election, and we'll be certainly touching base between now and then. Anne Webster, good to see you as always. Thanks very much for joining me on the show.

‍

‍

‍

‍